Golf-ball.



No. 707,263. Patented Aug. 19, I902. A. T. SAUNDERS.

' GOLF BALL.

(Application med Sept. 11, 1900.

(No Model.)

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NlTED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON '1. SAUNDERS, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANK A.SEIBERLING, OF AKRON, OHIO.

GOLF-BALL.

$I-ECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 707,263, dated August19, 1902.

Application filed September 11,1900. Serial No. 29,734. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADDISON T. SAUNDERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Golf-Balls, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in golf-balls,although anadaptation of the principles involved in my invention may result in animprovement in balls for other games, such as base-ball, croquet-golf,&c.; and the object of my invention is to provide a golfball possessingall the necessary qualities and characteristics of such balls, withsuperior resiliency and at less cost than those made by present methodsand from materials now in use. 4

The desiderata in golf-balls are, in addition to proper specificgravity, the greatest resiliency under impact of the strongest blowsfrom the clubs, as in driving, combined with the minimum of livelinessin light play, as in putting and when they pitch after flight, to getherwith such characteristics of the material forming the shell or outerportion that they are not cut by blows from the edges of the iron clubs,and yet are yielding enough not to injure the wooden clubs in'heavyplay.

I find that I am able to obtain greater resiliency than is possessed bya solid gutta-.

percha ball by forming within the ball a cavity to be filled withcompressed air and that this resiliency increases in proportion to thecompression of the air and may be increased to any desired extent byincreased compression, enabling me thus to supply all necessary reboundor resiliency for the whole ball, thus making it practicable toconstruct the ball of materials which of themselves would notsuccessfully replace the usual guttapercha of which said balls arecommonly composed, but which possess the strength and imperviouscharacter necessary to contain the air under pressure, the specificgravity to furnish the desired weight, and the pliability which allowsthe resiliency of the air within to be called into action. A ball madeof gutta-percha the same size as those now in use and having a cavitycontaining compressed air would be, of course, lighter by just so muchas is missing from the cavity left for the air. In carrying out myinvention the present standard weight is retained, in combination withthe presentsize, by the admixture of metal filings, white lead, or otherheavy substance with the gutta-percha or by using heavy substances aboutthe aircavity beneath the gut-ta-percha.

A ball made of gutta-percha only, with the pneumatic modification and ofthe same weight as a solid gutta-percha ball, is necessarily increasedin size, and therefore meets with added resistance in flight. It has theadvantage, however, of being less easily lost.

A material which I have used as a substitute for gutta-percha to form aportion of my pneumatic ball and from which I have made solid ballswhich have fair playing qualities is a compound or admixture ofindia-rubber (a substance unsuited in its purity or alone for golf-ballson account of its too great liveness under light impact) withcomparatively non-elastic substances in such proportions as to reduceits liveness to the desired degree. The particular substance possessingthe necessary characteristics which is used to combine with theindia-rubber is not essential.

I have successfully used a number of substances, including wood, a percent. of guttapercha, cotton, cork, straw, the preparations of themetals used in making rubber comfilings.

pounds, as white lead or litharge, and metal When organic substances areused and it is desired to produce a compound of less specific gravity.than the rubber, they should not be reduced to impalpable powder, asthis breaks down their structure and condenses them. They should bereduced rather to small fragmentsin the case of wood to fine sawdust.The admixture maybe made by mechanically kneading the substancetogether, as in a mill, or by dissolving the rubber in a suitablesolvent and after admixture exposing in'open trays for evaporation ofthe vehicle. A number of the substances named may be used in the sameadmixture and in such proportions as to give a resultant compound of any-specific gravity desired and also of greater or less resiliency. Thisdeadening of the rubber can and preferably will be carried further whenusing the admixture for the outer wall or shell of my pneumatic ballthan in making a solid ball, for the reason above shown.

It is evident that with a given strength of material it is practicableto have a larger airspace and greater compression of air by reinforcingthe wall than would be otherwise possible. I have found it necessary todo this, except when using a thick wall composed entirely or in greaterpart of guttapercha,to avoid undue distortion and dilation. Thereinforcing or strengthening of the wall may be effected by an admixtureof fiber throughout the compound, by an inner layer of such fiber, by athin shell of metal, or by wound wire; but I prefer a winding of narrowstrips of textile fabric or friction tape or thread around an air-tightlining of rubber. This friction-tape may contain heavy minerals, aswhite lead, litharge, or metal filings, to afiord a proper specificgravity to the tape or thread.

A ball constructed in accordance with my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional view of theball as it appears when bisected. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the ballhaving the outer shell removed and showing the winding of thefriction-tape upon the inner air-chamber; and Fig. 3 is a view similarto Fig. 2, showing a winding of friction-thread instead offriction-tape.

In the drawings, A represents the shell or outer portion of the wall,composed either of gutta-percha or of the compound hereinabovedescribed.

B is the reinforcing-web of friction thread or fabric, suitablyweighted, if desired, in the manner above described.

0 represents the casing or spherical wall of the air-chamber, composed,preferably, of rubber, and D designates the inner space or air chamber,within which air or other elastic fluid is compressed.

The preferred way of making my pneumatic golf-ball is as follows: Theinner air-chamber D of the desired size and capacity has its inclosingwall or shell 0 made, preferably, of pure para, containing sufficientsulfur for purposes of vulcanization. This rubber air-shell C is madeupin the usual way of mak ing toy hollow rubber balls, except thatinstead of the single lump of self-healing rubher which is usuallyattached to the inner surface two lumps are used, a'l'fixed at oppositepoints of the interior to preserve the center of gravity coincident withthe center of the ball. These lumps of self-healing rubher are indicatedin the drawings at c. This ball should then be vulcanized in the usualway. This rubber ball or air-chamber may next be covered with a layer offiber or fabric in strips or overlapping sections, strongly adhered toit and conforming to its spherical shape. This will prevent itsinflation and distortion during subsequent operations.

This chamber being sufficiently charged with air by means of ahypodermic needle thrust through one or both of the self-healing lumpsof rubber c is rendered sufficiently rigid for easy handling and is thenwound, preferably, with a frictioned thread or yarn of treated SeaIsland cotton, silk, or other strong fibrous material to the desiredsize for the reinforcement. The friction compound above alluded to withwhich the thread is covered should be of the best quality of rubber andloaded, as desired. When the thread has been properly coated with thecompound, the coating will fill in all interstices between the threadswhen wound. If preferred, the thread may be embedded in or coated withcompound as the winding progresses. The location of the self-healinglumps or plugs 0 may be marked before winding by thrusting a fine needle(blunt-pointed) through them both and winding with this needleprotruding at both sides. When the winding is finished, the needle iswithdrawn and one of the apertures is allowed to remain closed. Thelocation of the other is marked and through it at thisjuncture (orlater) the ball is charged with compressed air or other elastic fluid tothe desired degree. It is then inclosed in hot sheet gutta-percha,loaded, if desired, or in the compound hereinbefore described, of thedesired thickness, and compressed in a suitable mold. When the outershell or covering is composed of rubber compound, it should bevulcanized while in the mold. By placing the wrapped ball properly inthe gutta-percha and mold and by having the inner pneumatic ball solocated with reference to its inclosing shell as that the self-healingplugs shall coincide with marked points or poles in the pattern of theouter surface of the shell the location of the two self-healing plugswithin the airchamber is always known, and if under any circumstances orat any time it is desired to charge the ball more highly it can be doneby puncturing the gutta-percha at one of these points and inserting ahypodermic needle attached to a compressed-air source through one of theplugs within the chamber. The withdrawal of the needle allows theself-healing plug to close, and the puncture in the outer shell canreadily be closed with a hot bit of gutta-percha and a hot tool. Inpractice the plugs or lumps may be dispensed with, as the inner liningdescribed is selfsealing throughout under the pressure employed.

It is obvious that the inclosing shell may consist of gutta-perchaalone, or the described composition alone, or layers of each, or ofother equivalent or other suitable material. It is also obvious thatanother suitable elastic fluid than airas, forinstance, nitrogen gas--may be used to charge the ball.

From the foregoing description the latitude which the above-describedexpedients afford will be clear, showing how it is possible to makeballs meeting the conditions of a standard and also admitting ofvariations to suit special tastes or demands-for instance, by making aball with the thinnest wall practicable with the least possibleresiliency at the same time as rigid as practicable and of rightspecific gravity. The ball will putt well, showing. no undue deviationsfrom its course from contact with slight roughnesses of the green, as arubber ball would, and if the inclosed air is compressed to a highdegree it will be very sensitive and resilient for halfshots, with acorresponding good driving quality, while if this same kind of shell,eX- cept of less specific gravity and thicker to maintain the rightweight, is used with the necessarily smaller air-chamber filled with aircompressed to the highestdegree practicable this ball may putt and drivesimilarly to the other and yet show a marked difference in thehalf-shots, due to the fact that the latter blows do not reach and callinto action the resiliency of the air in the same proportion as with theother ball nor as the heavier impact does in this ball' owing to thedifference in the thickness of the wall of the shell.

I have hereinabove described a ball con-' taining a single centralair-cavity. It is of teristic of such balls, and one in which they areall distinguished in principle from my present pneumatic golf-ball,resides in the fact that the shell portions thereof are adapted andintended to transmit the elasticity of the pneumatic body under the impact of all blows, light as well as hard. Hence none of these is themechanical equivalent of or could successfully substitute my presentgolf-ball.

I claim as my invention- 1. A golf-ball comprising an airtight shellhaving a central cavity adapted to contain a body of fluid underpressure to form an elasprovided with self-sealing meansto retain thecompressed fluid therein, substantially as described. 3. A golf-ballcomprising an outer shell of such material and thickness and having suchrigidity as to maintain its sphericity under light impact and having acentral cavity to containa compressed fluid and a self-sealingfluid-tight lining for said cavity, substantially as described.

4. A golf-ball comprising an inner hollow rubber ball, adapted to befilled with an elastic fluid, a fibrous reinforcing-covering,surrounding said ball, and an inclosing shell of gutta-percha, orsimilar material, substantially as described.

5. A golf-ball comprising an'inner hollow rubber ball, adapted to befilled with an elastic fiuid, a covering of reinforcing material, asfriction-thread Wound thereabout, said covering being suitably treatedto increase its specific gravity, and an outer shell of guttapercha,substantially as described.

6. A golf-ball comprising an inner hollow rubber ball, adapted to befilled with an elastic fluid, a covering of reinforcing material, asfriction-thread wound thereabout, said covering being suitably treatedto increase its specific gravity, and an outer shell of guttapercha,mixed with strength and'weight giving substances, substantially asdescribed.

ADDISON T. SAUNDERS.

WVitnesses:

CHARLES T. BURNHAM, M. O. BURNI-IAM.

